What The Hell Is Going On Between Mo’Nique + Lee Daniels?

PHOTO: David Livingston/Grant Lamos IV/GETTY

Mo’Nique is still on her media tour, telling everyone that Lee Daniels is having a passive aggressive hissy fit against her. Now the actress is saying that Daniels is upset because she did not thank him in her 2010 Oscar acceptance speech.

Daniels claimed that Mo’Nique “didn’t play the [Hollywood] game,” meaning she didn’t “campaign” or schmooze for her Oscar. He says she didn’t really promote Precious the way she should have or attend enough parties to lobby for votes. It was also said that her behavior is less than desired and she can be rude. But Mo’Nique questioned Daniels in an interview with Good Morning America.

“I don’t think Hollywood has turned his nose up to me. I think that those are feelings that Mr. Daniels is having.

“And then he said, ‘You know, there were things that Mo’Nique — she didn’t thank the producers and she didn’t thank the studio, and that’s just not things that you do,” she continued. “Well, it had nothing to do with the producers, nor the studio. Mr. Daniels had a problem that I didn’t say his name the night of the Oscar awards.”

But she added, “I appreciate that comment because he’s absolutely right — it is show business. A game does have to be played. But why can’t we play the fair game? Why can’t we play the right game? If you’re asking, am I willing to put my integrity on the line for Hollywood? No.”

But why would Daniels do that to her? He’s said time and again that he considers her a friend, which is maybe why he (allegedly) offered her roles in The Butler and Empire, according to Mo’Nique. She said he offered her the role of Cookie (played famously by Taraji P. Henson), but when it came time to getting the script, her calls to Daniels went unanswered.

Maybe four days had gone by, and I hadn’t heard anything. So I’m trying to reach out to him to say, what time do I need to be in? Where do I need to be? When he finally returned the call, he says listen, the executives at Fox said that you’re difficult.

Co-creator Danny Strong denied her claims, saying in an interview with Sway in the Morning:

“We discussed Mo’Nique one very briefly. We never offered her the part. She wasn’t going to be Cookie,” he said. “Mo’Nique is so talented that she’d be great in almost anything. But Cookie was always Taraji.”

Despite the snub, it’s all good on Mo’Nique’s end. She even gave a shout out to Empire on Twitter.

But, still, who do you believe? Is Lee Daniels giving Mo’Nique false information or is Mo’Nique making everything up?

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